The first Christian message
From the beginning, Jesus’ followers centred their message on his resurrection. Paul reminded the church in Corinth of the message he had received: Jesus died, was buried, rose on the third day, and appeared to Peter and the Twelve (1 Corinthians 15:3-5). He then says that Jesus appeared to more than five hundred people at once (1 Corinthians 15:6).
Paul was not describing a private feeling or a vague spiritual survival. He treated the resurrection as the foundation of Christian faith. Without it, he says, the Christian message would be empty (1 Corinthians 15:14). That is an unusually direct claim.
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
An empty tomb and a living Jesus
Luke records that women went to Jesus’ tomb expecting to tend to a dead body. Instead, they found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. They were told that Jesus was no longer there because he had risen (Luke 24:1-5). Their confusion matters. They were not expecting a resurrection story.
The Gospels also describe Jesus appearing to his disciples in recognisable, physical ways. Luke says he invited them to look at his hands and feet, and ate with them (Luke 24:39-43). In John’s account, Thomas is invited to see Jesus’ wounds, leading him to call Jesus both Lord and God (John 20:27-28).
Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
What about other explanations?
It is fair to ask whether the disciples could have misunderstood, invented the story, or had visions. Matthew records that some leaders promoted the claim that the disciples had taken Jesus’ body, while presenting that claim as an explanation created after the empty tomb was reported (Matthew 28:11-15). The Bible does not hide that people disputed what happened.
Still, the earliest Christian accounts keep returning to the same surprising claim: Jesus was seen, heard, touched, and present with his followers. Peter had denied even knowing Jesus shortly before the crucifixion (Luke 22:61-62). Paul had actively persecuted Christians before his encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6). Their stories invite serious thought, even if they do not remove every question.
Why it still matters
If Jesus rose, his death was not the end of a good teacher whose work failed. God publicly vindicated Jesus, and death itself has been confronted. Peter proclaimed in Jerusalem that God had raised Jesus and that the apostles were witnesses of it (Acts 2:32).
This hope does not pretend that grief is easy or that death is small. It says that Jesus entered death and emerged alive. Read Luke 24 or John 20 for yourself, slowly, and notice how the witnesses respond. The resurrection is a big claim, but it is also the heart of Christian hope.
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.